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Foods
Special Issues
3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing in Foods
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3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing in Foods

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1860

Editors

Dr. Changsheng Wang

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
Interests: 3D printing; high internal phase emulsions; octenyl succinic anhydrate starch; xanthan gum
Prof. Dr. Xingxun Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Food Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing, China
Interests: starch biosynthesis-structure-functional properties; starch digestion and low GI foods preparation; designing, preparation and characterization of functional starch based materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Three-dimensional printing/additive manufacturing in foods is an emerging interdisciplinary field that combines food science, engineering, and digital technologies to create customized, complex, and functional food products. This topic explores innovations in food formulation, printing techniques (such as extrusion-based or inkjet printing), material properties, and post-processing methods. Key applications include personalized nutrition, sustainable food production, novel textures and aesthetics, and functional foods enriched with bioactive compounds. The field aims to revolutionize the way we design, produce, and consume food in the future. We welcome original research articles, reviews, and case studies that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

  • Three-dimensional food printing;
  • Additive manufacturing;
  • Food inks;
  • Personalized nutrition;
  • Food rheology;
  • Protein-based inks;
  • Polysaccharide-based inks;

Dr. Changsheng Wang
Prof. Dr. Xingxun Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • three-dimensional food printing
  • additive manufacturing
  • food inks
  • personalized nutrition
  • food rheology
  • protein-based inks
  • polysaccharide-based inks

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 8896 KB  
Article
Dual-Polysaccharide Reinforced Pickering Emulsion Gels for Tailoring Microstructure and Enhancing 3D Printing Performance
by Haoyu Zhou, Xingui Song, Zefan Zhang, Henghao Li and Wei Yang
Foods 2026, 15(14), 2482; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15142482 - 13 Jul 2026
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) food printing enables personalized fabrication but requires materials with suitable printing properties. This study developed high internal phase Pickering emulsions (HIPPEs) stabilized by co-assembled whey protein isolate (WPI) with κ-carrageenan (κ-CA) in a binary system and with both κ-CA and curdlan [...] Read more.
Three-dimensional (3D) food printing enables personalized fabrication but requires materials with suitable printing properties. This study developed high internal phase Pickering emulsions (HIPPEs) stabilized by co-assembled whey protein isolate (WPI) with κ-carrageenan (κ-CA) in a binary system and with both κ-CA and curdlan gum (CG) in a ternary system. The aim was to clarify the distinct roles of anionic and neutral polysaccharides in regulating emulsion printability. Incorporation of 1.2% κ-CA and 1.6% CG optimized the three-phase contact angles of the binary and ternary particles to 78.84 ± 0.87° and 86.22 ± 0.74°, respectively. The ternary system exhibited significantly greater oil-phase wettability (p < 0.05). Rheological and textural analyses showed that κ-CA concentration primarily governed yield stress and self-supporting capacity in the ternary system, with an optimum at 1.2%. In contrast, CG incorporation was essential for improving thixotropic recovery and printing accuracy, with an optimum at 1.6%. The optimized ternary HIPPEs exhibited excellent 3D printing accuracy with a food-grade oil phase and surpassed the binary system in structural integrity and shape fidelity. These findings clarify the distinct yet complementary roles of anionic and neutral polysaccharides in modulating HIPPEs printability and provide a rational material-design strategy for developing high-performance food 3D-printing system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing in Foods)
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19 pages, 8258 KB  
Article
Effects of Curdlan on 3D-Printed Meat Analogs Based on Stropharia rugosoannulata Mycelium and Pea Protein Isolate: Printability, Rheology, and Texture
by Xin Hu, Haijin Tang, Jingyu Wang, Xinlian Su, Lifang Zou and Baocai Xu
Foods 2026, 15(11), 1971; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15111971 - 2 Jun 2026
Viewed by 454
Abstract
Stropharia rugosoannulata mycelium is a naturally fibrous and sustainable protein source for meat analogs; however, its weak gel-forming ability and poor extrudability limit its printability and structural stability. In this study, extrusion-based 3D-printable composite inks were developed using mechanically fragmented mycelium, pea protein [...] Read more.
Stropharia rugosoannulata mycelium is a naturally fibrous and sustainable protein source for meat analogs; however, its weak gel-forming ability and poor extrudability limit its printability and structural stability. In this study, extrusion-based 3D-printable composite inks were developed using mechanically fragmented mycelium, pea protein isolate (PPI), and curdlan (CUR). The effects of mycelium and CUR concentrations on printability, rheological properties, water-holding capacity, water distribution, thermal properties, and texture were systematically evaluated. The results showed that mechanical fragmentation for 20 s effectively dispersed the mycelial aggregates while preserving the filamentous network. CUR markedly improved extrusion continuity, print accuracy, and shape fidelity after deposition. All inks exhibited shear-thinning behavior. Increasing CUR concentration enhanced apparent viscosity, storage modulus, thixotropic recovery, water-holding capacity, and thermal stability, while converting part of the immobilized water into bound water within the gel network. In addition, CUR strengthened hydrogen bonding in the composite inks. Texture profile analysis of heated meat analogs showed that hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness, and resilience increased progressively with increasing CUR concentration. Among the tested formulations, the ink containing 50% mycelium, 5% PPI, and 6% CUR exhibited the best balance between printability, structural stability, and meat-like texture, showing the closest textural similarity to boiled chicken breast. These findings provide a practical strategy for fabricating mycelium-based meat analogs with improved printability and meat-like texture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing in Foods)
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21 pages, 11914 KB  
Article
3D Printing of Cincau Perdu (Premna oblongifolia) Hydrogel for Dysphagia Patient’s Food Application
by Doohan Taqdissillah, Wildan Mubarok, Retno Wahyu Nurhayati, Shinji Sakai and Yudan Whulanza
Foods 2026, 15(5), 960; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15050960 - 9 Mar 2026
Viewed by 921
Abstract
This study investigates the feasibility of using cincau perdu (Premna oblongifolia) as a single-ingredient hydrogel ink for extrusion-based 3D food printing targeted for dysphagia-friendly applications. Cincau perdu (CP), also known as grass jelly, is a traditional jelly-like dessert popular in Southeast [...] Read more.
This study investigates the feasibility of using cincau perdu (Premna oblongifolia) as a single-ingredient hydrogel ink for extrusion-based 3D food printing targeted for dysphagia-friendly applications. Cincau perdu (CP), also known as grass jelly, is a traditional jelly-like dessert popular in Southeast Asia. CP hydrogels could be rapidly prepared by microwave-assisted heating, followed by cooling to room temperature. The rheological properties, stiffness, and syneresis of the hydrogels could be adjusted by changing the hydrogels’ concentration. 3D constructs faithful to the blueprint could be fabricated using inks composed of 10 w/v% CP hydrogels. The textural properties were tunable by altering the geometry (grid type and height) of the printed construct. The CP hydrogels were categorized as level 5 (minced and moist) criteria based on the International Dysphagia Diet Standardization Initiative (IDDSI), making them suitable for diets of patients with dysphagia. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the potential of CP hydrogels as a sustainable, naturally gelling, and culturally relevant material for 3D-printed diets for patients with dysphagia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing in Foods)
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